The word meshiagare can translate both into ‘bon appetit’ or quite simply just ‘dig in’ — and in the case of this short but super interesting Japanese pop-up by chef Jerry Bernasol at The Lotus Oriental, The Leela Bhartiya City Bengaluru — both translations do absolute justice!
Quite aptly called Meshiagare, the pop-up features two set menus — Sakura for non-vegetarians and Kaiseki for vegetarians and decided to try both and here’s our honest review. We started with Maguro Tataki, Avocado Salad and the seared tuna with avocado, cucumber, iceberg lettuce, wakame and ponzu dressing, which was a fresh and delicious way to kick off this flavour celebration.
We quickly followed that up with Sushi and Sashimi Moriawase and a Yasai Uramaki from the Kaiseki menu. The tuna, salmon and chef’s special uramaki with seafood was an absolute hit with, while the Veg California Roll (Yasai Uramaki) with avocado cream cheese and asparagus tempura was one of the most interesting veg takes on sushi we’ve ever had!
Next up was a Norwegian Salmon Teriyaki Glaze, an Australian Lamb Chops Chili Tonbanjan Yakiniku Sauce and a Horenso Okonomiyaki. The salmon was cooked to perfection and served on a bed of crunchy asparagus — a dish truly representative of chef Jerry’s expertise. The lamb was pretty delicious too, but it was the mushroom stuffed okonomiyaki that really stole our hearts and conquered our taste buds!
We wrapped up this quick dinner with a Gyokai Rui Miso Shiru Soup with salmon, prawn, miso, tofu, wakame and spring onion — soup, at the end of a meal, who would have imagined — and ended our meal with a surprise dessert Ice-cream Tempura. We paired our meal with mimosas and bellinis and would recommend you do the same! Head here for some great Japanese food, authentic yet not so unfamiliar — the perfect combination.
INR 3,000 onwards. Only for dinner. Only on July 13. At Thanisandra.
Email: romal@newindianexpress.com
X: @elromal